Posted on 04/29/2003 12:30:07 PM PDT by Enemy Of The State
Shanghainese wary of hidden epidemic
By ATol staff
HONG KONG - While the official number of confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) cases in Shanghai still stands at two, the public panic tells a different story.
The municipal government of Shanghai is very clear about the severity of the disease. Facing the danger of a large-scale outbreak of the epidemic, the government has decided to keep cool to the outside while employing strict preventive measures inside - a calm face with a concerned heart. The city recently has stepped up sanitation regulations. Moreover, no events with large amounts of people gathering together are allowed and all travel agencies have been ordered to suspend organizing or receiving group trips. As a result, business in the Chenghuangmiao commercial area, one of the city's best-known tourist spots, has dropped substantially, with turnover down to 10-30 percent of normal levels.
The city has quickly implemented the eight regulations to control SARS announced earlier by the municipal government. The regulations call for all schools to conduct morning checks, as well as mandating that the city administer strict inspections to people entering or leaving the city. In addition, group activities have been ordered to halt and no travel agency is allowed to receive or organize group trips. Meanwhile, the municipal People's Congress has revised regulations on spitting, raising the fine to 200 yuan (US$24), up from 50 yuan. The city's already-famous maglev train from Pudong International Airport will also be shut during the May Day holiday. The government's anti-SARS moves serve to fan citizens' panic regarding the disease.
Shanghai's already tense environment is getting worse. At congested areas such as railway stations and bus terminals, there has been a sharp increase in passengers wearing surgical masks. Anyone who sneezes or coughs in a subway car is given plenty of space. Sanitary items such as facemasks and disinfectants have sold briskly at stores. Some medicine shops have even stopped producing non-SARS articles and only produce those said capable of preventing or curing the disease. Thanks to SARS, these products are selling better than ever. Residents are even buying out fruits rich in vitamin C.
It is known that the city no longer welcomes travelers. Some shops are reluctant to sell goods to those coming from so-called "SARS regions". A shop owner selling ornaments says that although shops now have few patrons and few locals go shopping and some shops even have no sales for several days, most owners still opt to close their doors to visitors from Guangdong or Beijing and disinfect their shops once the unwanted visitor leaves.
When asked, most residents express their honest unawareness of the real SARS situation in the city. However, whether Shanghai will follow Guangzhou and Beijing into the whirlpool of the epidemic has become the public's major concern.
The WHO said that Shanghai needed to drastically increase the reported cases last week, and then this weekend said that everything was great.
But then the stock exchange said it wanted to shut down until May 19 to prevent SARS transmission. China wouldn't do that if there was no problem. The economic damage would be big.
Still, it seems that there is no huge outbreak in the city. It's impossible to make sense of the conflicting information.
What do you bet that on May 19th the epidemic will be miraculously under control saving a crash. Plus there are toooooo many foreigners to hide a SARS problem if one occurs.
Yes. Everyone I know is concerned, not panic-stricken. The people all want to know what they can do to avoid the problem, and they're working hard at preventative measures. Rumors about people in hospitals with SARS are just that: Rumors.
I work in an area just outside of Shanghai. People here are saying that there are quarantined apartment buildings and businesses with two deaths from SARS in this small town.
The two deaths are said to be reported as: 1-since the person caught the disease in Hong Kong, it should be recorded as a Hong Kong case, and 2-this person caught SARS but died of kidney failure, therefore it was recorded as a kidney failure death.
Rumors like these are all over the place, but no one can confirm anything. The Shanghainese seem to believe less in rumors and more on facts.
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